#Not at all bc akechi enjoys his company

[itsredpaint]

🥞

[wishforged]

welcome to the very long postscript to Steal Ahead, a persona 5 fanfiction, that I doubt very many people will read in full but I have chosen to write anyway for my own self-aggrandizement.

before proceeding, please take note that in the following, I reflect on my writing decisions in some detail. reading these notes may color your perception of the story. if you prefer for the author to be dead, I'd advise stopping here!!

introductory thoughts

this fic is titled after a lyric in the song "Tape Song" by the kills.

pretty self-explanatory, right?

I started writing this fic because... well, that was 5 years ago and since then I've gotten a concussion at least once and my memory is kind of bad in general but I can still confidently say goro akechi is my favorite character in the world. a lot of post-vanilla fans might not completely understand the degree to which goro fans were imbibing copium before all the additional material royal gave us-- goro's story ended very ambiguously, and a lot of things about him and his relationship with Ren were left up to our little fujoshi imaginations to ruminate over and decipher. I couldn't help but want to give him a future in my own way.

I also really wanted to write a SUPER SLOW BURN LONG TERM YEARS-LONG EPIC AKESHU LOVE STORY!!! it ended up being a little different than what I envisioned lol but I think it's still true to my original aspiration, which was to create an intimate, realistic, friends-to-lovers dynamic between the two of them. I hope you enjoyed it...

one of my major influences was In Good Company by weialala. yes, it's a naruto fic, one that I've held dear for many many years. weialala's internal monologue for Sasuke and how she deals with questions about his life, as well as her take on Sasuke and Naruto's relationship, goes beyond Naruto canon in an incredible way that really influenced how I wrote Goro and the slow burn romance in this fic. I highly recommend checking the fic out if you're a naruto fan!! sorry if you're not and this revelation gave you psychic damage.

I outlined this fic pretty heavily, keeping a google doc with a timeline of events spanning the four years over which the story takes place. that didn't stop me from changing things and adding stuff up until the last minute, though. I also struggled to keep the timeline straight a lot because I made the questionable decision to start the fic two years after canon left off and I can be kind of dumb.

a look into my struggles/twisted mind. my outlines tend to be quite rough.

in the rest of this post I talk about several things in the fic, like Goro's disability and mental health, how Ren is portrayed, and the original characters, with some behind-the-scenes thoughts.

"redemption"

when it comes to characters who have Done Stuff Wrong, there is a lot of discourse to be had among fans about how they can Atone for their crimes. these arguments often touch a lot of nerves-- in my opinion, because our contributions to this discourse are influenced by how we think about crime and rehabilitation in the real world.

I live in a country where the carceral system is incredibly brutal and discriminatory, abuse of incarcerated people is routine, and the goal of incarceration is not rehabilitation but the infliction of suffering upon those deemed "criminals" by the state. this has shaped my beliefs about incarceration as a form of punishment. to put it simply, I am not a fan. and in a fictional context, I find the idea that a character in a work of fiction can "do their time" and have all their guilt and sin magically removed to be a cop-out.

this is just me and these are just my own thoughts of course. again, I think questions about crime and rehabilitation in fiction are influenced by our thoughts on these concepts in the real world. for that reason and many others this is quite a personal story that draws on my own personal philosophy in its telling (as half-baked as that philosophy may be bc im not a super genius who has all the answers). whether that is a flaw or a feature is up to you as a reader to decide.

in this fic I wanted to explore how to move forward after you have done something horrible. it was hard, because in this story and perhaps in life, there are no pretty answers and no perfect ways to make up for doing the things Goro did. I settled upon an "answer" that reflects one of my deeply-held beliefs: we do what we must after tragedy, and what we must do is move forward, rely on and be there for those we love, and try to do as much good as we can.

original characters

as stated in the tags of the fic, I wrote in OCs so goro could have actual relationships and friends. I tried to gift each one with their own unique personality and some depth! a lot of the OCs are women, maybe because I find it easier to write women lol. sometimes I feel like a lot of female OCs in fic can lean towards being misogynistic caricatures -- I'm not really blaming writers for this as much as I am blaming Society; fanfic deals in tropes and when you constantly see the trope of the bitchy secretary, the shallow seductress, etc. in the media you consume it becomes second nature to unconsciously replicate it, even if you identify as a woman. this is why IMO as a writer you need to make a conscious effort to do things differently (and read more books) although I'm sure there are a lot of ways I come up short...

one of my favorites is cleo which is funny because she only shows up for a handful of scenes in the last chapter lol, and maybe it's recency bias but I spent so long working on the last chapter she feels like my own child... I feel like her first name doesn't make sense for a Japanese-American person to have but I got attached to it lmao.

I actually do think I gave the Kato family too many problems, what with Kagami's illness and Taku's behavior -- I think I kinda reference this at one point by having Goro wonder what kind of a fucked up Dickensian family this is lol. I have some other self-critical thoughts on how I wrote them but I'll keep that to myself... still love them a lot though. I really enjoy messy but loving sibling relationships in fiction so I had to put one in here too.

(fun fact: like Goro, Taku was going to be Deaf, which is why Kagami comments that Goro is "like my brother" during her first appearance in chapter 1. when I decided to go another direction for Taku's character, I changed this to mean Goro and Taku have eyes that are the same color.)

shout out, also, to Hirakawa, who seems to be something of a fan favorite judging by the comments. she was a blast to write lol and I really love her relationship with Goro.

ren

I consider the Ren in this fic to be my Ultimate™ portrayal of him that is the closest to how I see him as a character. my most popular p5 work is The Next Time Around, an AU fic where Ren is an older adult that I wrote when I was a teenager (more than five years ago) (lol) (😔) and although I do have pride in/affection for that work and the Ren in it, he is a far cry from the way I imagine Ren today. (for one thing his name wasn't ren in that fic. lol)

being a silent protagonist, Ren is a tricky character to get right. I was very active in the p5 fandom space on social media for several years before I basically completely stopped paying attention to it, but like many others, in those early days I absorbed parts of others' portrayals of Ren into my own. I actually think that's quite a lovely thing about silent protagonists-- everyone in a fandom space kind of works to build the character together. yes, sometimes the portrayals that attain the most popularity are flattening or flanderizing, but ultimately, it's kind of fun to build a Frankenprotagonist. until you're writing a fic which prompts you to really sit down and think about what a true-to-canon portrayal looks like and how to make it also true to Yourself and what you really believe the character to be. (it's hard)

in Steal Ahead, Ren is superstitious and avoidant and quite bad at expressing his feelings. he's a charismatic anti-authoritarian, a middle child, and a neat freak with a strong, stubborn sense of justice. he's full of contradictions and flaws, and he's healing in his own way from the events of p5 proper, struggling with returning to a mundane life when for a short, glorious while, he was extraordinary. (hence the shoplifting subplot in chapter 2. fun fact -- that was originally supposed to be smoking but then I decided to change it. I forget why but I'm sure I had a good reason, probably. don't smoke, kids! or shoplift if you think you might get caught. kidding etc)

Ren argues and bickers with Goro quite a bit in this fic which I enjoyed writing. though they share many similarities, they're very different people -- I thought it would be only natural for them to clash sometimes, though they always come back to each other.

this Frankenren is composed of a bunch of headcanons, a lot of which were influenced by/shamelessly stolen from friends. I love him very much. thanks to everyone who helped me build my Ren along the way!

disability

goro has a disability in this fic-- single-sided deafness-- which I included because I felt it was unrealistic for him to have escaped from the engine room with no lasting consequences. I was pretty conscious of portraying it respectfully and realistically so I did my research on the condition. this source was helpful as a personal testimonial from someone who has this condition about how it affects their life.

by the way, goro's hearing aid in this fic is a CROS hearing aid, which is designed specifically for people with single-sided deafness.

one of my favorite moments in the fic is the brief conversation Goro and Ryuji have about their respective disabilities in chapter 2 -- it's short, because I didn't think either of them would really be enthusiastic about opening up to each other at that point lol, but it's nice.

I welcome criticism of how I handled this part of the fic from anyone in the Deaf community -- I'm not perfect and don't have firsthand knowledge.

mental health

obviously goro is not doing great mentally in this fic for many reasons. I have written a lot of goro-centric fics, but this one required really tapping into the headspace of a flawed person who has been traumatized & manipulated and is dealing with immense depression and guilt while recovering. like many (most?) writers I draw from my own past experiences and emotions while writing, which made this a particularly taxing fic to work on, and is definitely one of the reasons it took so long to finish 🥲

other than that I'd say one of the most difficult things was being realistic while avoiding melodrama, and portraying a real story of recovery/imparting positive messages without being too cheesy, which made some of the self-help book sections hard to write.

if you relate to goro's depressive thoughts in this fic, I hope it can be an affirming story for you. I also hope you're taking the time to reach out to people who can support you and practicing self-care.

the ending

I actually don't have a ton to say about the ending because I'd like to leave it up to interpretation. however, I will say that the ending is not the original one I had in mind when I started the fic. I'm not sure how people will react to it (if you've been following this fic maybe you'll just be happy it got an ending at all LOL) but I hope it didn't feel like it came out of nowhere.

concluding thoughts

compared to my other p5 works, this one isn't as popular even though I do consider it my best, which I will admit is disheartening. the release of p5 royal also created a new canon in which this fic does not take place, which I imagine certainly doesn't help. despite this, I got some lovely long, thoughtful comments and even occasionally saw people on social media discussing how they enjoyed this fic despite it being unfinished, which always made me super emotional. trust me, in those 4 years that this fic was lying dormant, each new comment motivated me to crack open the Google doc again and ultimately finish this work. let this be a testament to the power of comments and the ubiquitous egotism of fic writers. or writers in general, actually. thank you so much for your kindness!

if you actually read all of this, thank you again! I do like talking about this fic so feel free to ask questions or give feedback via my ask box, retrospring (linked on twitter) or ao3 comments.

I just ran a word count on this and it's like 2.5k words. good lord. bye

[maze-of-my-design]

7 8 12 15 for sumi!!!!

(the ask game in question times 3)

[incredible excitement] YA HOO!!!!

7- SUMIRE/VIOLET REDESIGNS MY BELOVEDS god y'all don't know how i love em. As much as i love the canon outfit they SHOULD'VE given her a redesign, small as it may be. Love it when people give her different hairstyles too, shout-out to the short hair sumis out there i love every single one of em. I'm not a part of em personally but i believe in their beliefs.

Also extra shout-out to that one Transmasc Sumire post I think about it always and i love that for him. in love tbh.

7.5 i need more positivity after last post - When people see her past the "hello senpai uwu im so cutesey and shy" personality and treat her issues like they do, say, Akechi's for example. She's an interesting character guys they couldve done so much with her, she isn't just the Badly Interwoven Royal Marketable Plushie guys plea

8- Probably the inverse of the 7.5 point AND when they make her just "akeshu's child" or "akeshu's thirdwheel" or just. make her revolve around them, yknow? ESPECIALLY when it's Royal Trio stuff. She would be mildly concerned about their Doomed Yaoi Swag, of course, but it wouldn't be her sole character trait. Also, when they make her into this permanent doormat-type, fragile little girl. Please, Sumire literally asks Makoto to teach her how to physically clock a bitch in the Theives Den, she's the first one who rushes into battle during Maruki's palace before The Revelation (AND she's verbally told to slow down by AKECHI), she kills three shadows SINGLEHANDEDLY during the intro to the game WHILE LANDING BACKFLIPS. ON HEELS. Sumire is by no means weak or shy in battle and she would be willing to knock a man unconscious if need be.

12 (except it's multiple bc i love her) - She'd be a featherman fan. Maybe not a fanatic, but she'd enjoy the show greatly! She'd also like Disney movies (though not the company itself because Fuck Disney) and taught herself how to pirate TV shows and films so that she could enjoy them in her spare time. Lastly i think she'd enjoy sewing, while Kasumi would have enjoyed embroidering. Two sisters fixing and embelishing clothes, two parts of a whole, you feel me?

12.5 - She's 16 during Royal. Listen, i know she's a first year, but it is stated IN GAME that "the girl who died [Kasumi] was 15" and Sumire is brainwahsed by Maruki on the twins' birthday (according to the wiki) so she would be 16 instead of 15 and that innacuracy drives me a little nuts i think. However we know that fandom wikis aren't the end all be all of characetr info so correct me if i'm wrong

15- I guess i enjoy shu/sumi and sumi/taba* sometimes – their stuff can be rly cute tbh – but i think we were robbed of a bond between Akechi and Sumire. They're the only two theives who arent really members of the theives (Sumire being openly against their methods since they'd make society over-rely on them, Akechi being Akechi), They're both people who pretended to be someboy they weren't because of a single man who thought himself holy, they reunited with eachother at their realest moment (Akechi being Crow, Sumire awakening to who she really is). Akechi would have the opportunity to open himself up at his own pace with her instead of traumadumping to strategically get closer to chosen people, Sumire would get to be more walls-down and feel bad instead of just pretending to be ok. Sumire would learn to be more blunt with others and Akechi would get to be less defensive and mellow down. They're both more honest with eachother than with other people. do you see the vision?

Now i wouldn't say i ship them, moreso i see a Warriors Bond between them where saying friends is too simple but neither would want to kiss eachother on the mouth like That by any means (That is a Gay Man and a Lesbian your honor). They're two ppl who have their worst moments near eachother for an hour and then proceed to cuddle on the couch watching featherman to calm down.

(also because a full on romantic ship would be a little weird considering their ages and all)

*typing the ships like that so that they don't show up on search

[tehepicduckeh]

thinking about harugoro starting with chance meetings > going out together for fun during the sae palace infiltration... and then continuing on afterwards but with akechi considerably more tense bc well. 'what the fuck. i just killed ren why is she still me inviting places.' haru, meanwhile... gets a good lot of satisfaction from that above. and also still enjoys his company. it might not be moral, and she does still deeply hate many of the things he has done... but her mask is black too, mmn?

smth smth snip below:

11/25 (5 days after the interrogation)

"Is it... wrong, for me to want to control you?" She says, and it's clearer than ever she's trying to make a threat. Akechi decides she's going to be the next one dead. "I think I want to control you, Akechi-kun—" And she won't stop using that fucking honorific! "—for the same reasons that I like to garden."

Akechi doesn't change from his carefully neutral glare, but one of his eyebrows raises in a silent 'Go on.'

Haru smiles again, all hidden teeth and knives, and nods. "I haven't told... anyone, this, really... but I like to garden so that I can make something grow." Left unsaid is how obviously it's only growing according to her wishes. Her design. Akechi's not going to be under *any* design once he deals with Shido and the Thieves. He *will* be free. But still... she knows what he's done, by now. She *has* to. Why then, is he at a restaurant with her on the seventh floor of a hotel?

"What exactly are you attempting to achieve, by telling me this?"

"Akechi-kun, have you ever wondered why my mask is black, too?"

something like that. something... like that. y'know?

[insanepoll]

[ID: white slide with a picture of goro akechi with a transparent background taking up almost all of the page. behind him, there is a submission that can’t be completely seen bc of the picture of goro, but reads:

hes literally so insane and so so stupid omg, like this guy has dedicated so much of his life to getting revenge on his dad, and his whole plan was to fucking work for him and help him achieve his goal of being prime minister and then tell him "oh yeah btw im your illegitimate son that you abandoned how does it feel to know that you only got here bc of me loser" like dude????? thats a shit plan what are you on????? and like he was so focused in on this stupid ass plan that when his dad started ordering him to kill people for political reasons he was just like "welp no turning back now" like dude??????? (to be fair his dad wouldve probs killed him he disobeyed but uhhhh yeah my point still stands this teenager is not mentally stable AT ALL)

he hides behind masks like CONSTANTLY too like obvi he pretends to be a good little lackey for his dad, but like he's also a celebrity (he's a highschool detective, girls think he's hot i guess)(and i guess he is actually kinda smart cuz hes a good detective but like my point still stands that hes so fucking stupid at the same time like. my god.) he like puts on this whole goody-two-shoes shtick that the media and all his fangirls are SO in love with but like hes not like that at all hes so fucking unhinged deep down like holy shit

when you get confront him in the second to last palace he tries to fucking kill akira(the main character) and his friends but like its mostly abt akira specifically??? and like dude calm the fuck down WHY are you so bloodthirsty man, i know you wanna kill akira and rip him apart, i know you despise him because you're jealous of him, i knowwwwww dude god and when you get him as a party member in the secret third semester section of the game he is just so fucking unhinged

in the battle segments just goes on and on about how the shadows are weaklings and hes gonna have so much fun ripping them to shreds hes so bloodthirst and unhinged you dont understand

OH OH AND HES GAY AS HELL DID I MENTION THAT his whole relationship with the mc is so homoerotic my god dude and the only thing stopping them from getting together is the sheer force of goro's emotional contipation ohhhhhh my god dude your just jealous of him!!!! thats not what hatred is dude!!! you fully enjoy akira's company and cherish his companionship! you showed him your favorite place to go, somewhere youve never shown to anyone! you went to a cafe together! you shared your tragic backstory with him while you two BATHED TOGETHER ALONE! you couldve killed him or arrested him for being a phantom thief a long time ago but you kept hanging out with him!!!!!! he kept your glove! he almost surrendered to a fabricated reality just so you could live!!!!! the only reason he didnt is because he knew you wouldnt want to live under someone else's control!!!!!

sorry this became a shuake rant at the end in conclusion, he may be every good at hiding it but he is in fact incredibly unhinged anyway if you wanna see him being unhinged in action here's some videos for you viewing pleasure: (the cutscenes are the important parts, timestamps are 0:00, 8:43, 10:50, 21:30(ok this cutscene doesnt show him being unhinged but it is important to me that you see it)) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tVAekUc-lg (most of the quotes after 7:02 are unhinged but feel free to listen to the whole thing if you wanna see the difference between the real him and the good boy facade) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IygJD2Et74E&t=4s

/End ID.]

[hjarnrota]

Ryuji P5 Please

Sexuality Headcanon: gay guy all the way he just doesnt know it yet 🤫 Gender Headcanon: cis with a rather restricting and self sabotaging view on gender and sexuality. he gets better while being together with akira, and ann calling him out by slapping him on the back of his head A ship I have with said character: pegoryu 4 life .. have a big weakness for characters who just hang out, work out and share a lot of hobbies together. its the quiet type vs energetic combo, both of them being able to be silly together and still have serious discussions right after when it comes to difficult topics. think ryuji can learn a lot from akiras perspective and akira can loosen up a little and get out of his head. they enjoy each others company so much, idk it makes me so happy 😭 its so easy to make #hurt content too, like whats better than this, things just not working out

A BROTP I have with said character: looove akechi/ryuji dynamic, its soo fun. its akechi being pissed hes gotta spend time with akiras lgbt flag friends and ryuji thinking hes just so goddamn annoying. its so easy for him to startle akechi with his forwardness, meanwhile akechi is able to press all his buttons and make him flip - which eventually leads to ryuji apologising bc he doesnt like open ends when he knows theyre trying. and he knows akechi tries sometimes <3 A NOTP I have with said character: cant really think of anything 🤔 A random headcanon: think ryuji is extremely open about the positive things happening in his life with his ma, and constantly talks about the friends hes made, what theyve been doing, and how much he cherishes them. he gets super embarrassed though when a friend comes over and his ma is like omg you must be (name) ryuji talks about you all the time 🤗 can imagine she figures out about him being a pt as well General Opinion over said character: literally nothing wrong with ryuji, best boy all the way. when i was out of p5 after its vanilla release i was so confused about people specifically attacking him for misogyny in the game when like every character in this shitty atlus product is the worst and the game is full of sexism and homophobia. persona writing is annoying as fuck but i can deal with his failings

[boypussydilf]

thinking abt my funniest trio of all time now (ann akechi and ryuji) (they r not really the funniest trio of all time. but they are funny) now if akira were to make akechi and ryuji hang out w him at the same time. it woild be purely for his own amusement. hes not doing it to bring them closer together he just thinks its funny to watch them Not Enjoy Each Others Company butnot leave bc they like him too much. akiras funny social experiments. but if ann forced them to hang out w her she WOULD be doing it with the intent of getting them to get along and like each other more. however, crucially, she also is not putting in any particular effort to PREVENT them from arguing or anything. bc she ALSO thinks its funny to watch them not get along. she has Goals of RyuGoro Friendship but shes also not holding them apart from each other. ann invites akechi & ryuji to get lunch at the mall with her and they go. for some reason. and she just has a stack of cards with like icebreakers and conversation topics and she goes thru them one by one and every time a conversation starts akechi and ryuji get into some sort of argument and ann just sits there smiling away until they run out of things to say and then she moves on to the next card. and just repeats this until they have literally anything in common to talk about.

[persona-rrau]

So how would have everything gone if Akechi and Akira's position been reversed? With Akechi the high ranking retainer who failed and Akira as the kitchen boy who worked his way up?

TNT: Interesting take. I didn’t think I’d have much to say about this because the question had me stumped at first, bUT HERE WE GO!

I’m going based on the fact that the au is mainly pegokita, so I can imagine Minato meeting up with Akira every now and again, using food as an excuse to visit the kitchen more often even during his younger years. If Akechi started off as Minato’s retainer, and he saw Minato doing this, I don’t doubt that he’d get jealous if he was excluded. Even if he was included, I feel like he’d still feel inferior if Minato even hinted he might enjoy Akira’s company more. It’d be up to Akechi’s perception. In canon RRAU, he wishes to be useful and special to the point of making Akira obsolete, and in this alternate version, it seems like he’d take issue with being born with the privilege of being special/closest to the king, yet somehow failing even at that if Minato feels the need to seek out someone else instead of remain in his company. 

We could also entirely spin this a different way and go full ham Minake, or go full ham Shuake by making Akira go all doki doki for the cute retainer in a much more innocent “I wanna be there too” way. Since Akira wouldn’t be fueled by spite, I think he’d genuinely try to rise in ranks the slow, grating way, even if it’d take a long while. While Akira keeps getting kicked down in canon, I don’t think he’d go so far as cheat his way to success. The cheating to success stems from Akechi’s overall pettiness as a person for being stepped on and I don’t think Akira would have the same chaotic energy or be petty enough to do the same things Akechi did, even if he’d meet the same end goal.

I think there’s two ways to end this. One, where Akechi becomes the first retainer to turn on his king and the country (since retainers for the Arisatos take over if every Arisato dies) and takes over by betraying Minato in a way he feels Minato betrayed him, or, you know, everyone can have a happy ending and they can all go to the beach and get sunburn with ice cream to the side.

I personally also love the idea of Akira being such a little shit, but he’s so charming that Minato can’t penalize him and it drives Akechi mad because Akechi’s supposed to make sure Minato abides by the laws and reinforces them and yet he can’t say shit bc Minato’s just shrugging off Akira’s misdemeanors in a way that he wouldn’t do for anyone else. Since Akechi is Law and Minato is literally Messiah, I feel like they’d be much more efficient as Retainer/King than Akira/Minato. I do think one key factor that would be similar to Akira is that Akechi would kill all his targets unless Minato told him otherwise. Akira would disobey Minato’s direct orders if he was told not to kill, rebellion and all that, but I wonder if Akechi would actually do as Minato said.

It’s hard to say if Akechi would act the same as Akira if he allowed Minato to get hurt, because they are different people. Akira got overprotective in RRAU canon, and I don’t doubt Akechi would do the same if he allowed Minato to get hurt, but I don’t know if Akechi would feel guilty enough not to take Minato’s affection if Minato showed that he really wanted it. I feel like Akechi wouldn’t mask his affection as “duty to his king” like Akira would. I think he’s too blunt to keep a lie like that one so consistently without contradicting himself or revealing the truth. The only way I see Akechi pushing away affection is if he knew/thought that it was a longshot for said affection to actually be mutual. Given how direct Minato has to be with his wants and needs in this AU, I don’t think he’d give Akechi room to doubt him (much like how Minato is with Akira).

It’s really hard to say, because Akira and Akechi have the potential to meet the same end by different methods. NGL tho, the thought of Akira working his way up as a corrupt soldier and then stealing Minato away like the thief he is, is really appealing, right down to the stabbing Minato with a giant ass sword aesthetic.

[siulongbao]

I just want a fic where ryukita happens bc the two of them do an independent infiltration together and they realize they make great partners so they start hanging out 1 on 1 outside of mementos and really enjoying each other's company and get super close but then FUCK, RYUJI GETS THE GAY FEELINGS AND HE LIKE "UHHH MABDKDNSBDN???? WHAT DO I DO????" So he asks his besties Ann and Akira to help him out and cue ridiculous cheesy shit Ryuji does to "subtly" get Yusuke to romantically like him and Yusuke, being his obvlious self, doesn't get any of it. And when Ryuji finally gets frustrated enough with these pitiful results he just outright says that he likes him to his face and Yusuke's like: Oh? I like you too??? I thought this was already established?? Art boi already thought they were dating lmaoooo.

Or alternate angst route Ryuji stops hanging out with Yusuke and it feels bad man. Yusuke feels sad and frustrated and eventually it all accumulates to a screaming match where the two of them confess at the same time like Ryuji: "IM SORRY OK I WAS FUCKING IN LOVE WITH YOU MAN"

Yusuke: "I LOVE YOU TOO I THOUGHT THIS WAS ALREADY CLEAR, AND WHAT DO YOU MEAN WAS???? U DONT LOVE ME ANYMORE???" sad violin music. They both realize they're idiots then they make out and do cute shit while the rest of the Phantom Thieves are clapping and yelling in the background (w/ Akira taking pics for the scrapbook). Akechi is just lost and confused.